Dynasty: The Glorious Strategist (Dynasty Saga Book 3) (26 page)

Lymee chewed on her knuckle as she started to understand what Lei was suggesting. “If Gon’s forces, being led by my forces, were to march from the Capital to Mjon Dynasty, the fastest route would be to go through Hong Dynasty then turn north and go through Fu Dynasty in order to reach Mjon.” Lymee stating starting to like the plan she was coming up with. “And if Lord Voy of Hong Dynasty wished to send her own soldiers to support us it would be rude to turn them away.”

“Making our combined forces almost twice the size of what Fu could muster in retaliation,” Niimu nodded also seeming to like the idea. “If Lord Yung chose to oppose us and ally herself with the Lord of Mjon then we could deal with both of them in their own land and crush what could account for our largest opposition.”

“And even if they don’t openly oppose us then we still have a large army in Mjon,” Lymee nodded. “Meaning we will have both Song Dynasty and Fu Dynasty surrounded. Gon to the west, Su and Hong on the south, and our garrison in Mjon to the north. And when Gon’s forces return back to Gon which they must at some point. The most direct route would of course be,” Lymee reached out and traced her finger from Mjon to Gon. “Through Song Dynasty.”

“And if we were to help settle a dispute while we passed through,” Niimu said with a smile. “Say, stopping a certain General from seizing power from her half-sister,” Niimu said as if it was just a hypothetical possibility. “Then all the better.”

“Exactly,” Lymee nodded. She looked over at Lei and gave her an impressed smile. Lei gave a smile back before returning her attention to the map.

“And what about the south west region?” Yoni asked speaking up for the first time. “While there are very few large Dynasty there if they were all to unite against our Empress they would be able to form a significantly large force. Not to mention a lot of our mineral resources are mined from that area. With most of our soldiers occupied in the north there will be very little we could do to reign them in if they decide to get uppity.”

“Uppity?” Lymee smiled.

“What?” Yoni said shrugging her shoulder

“Then we will just have to make sure that they don’t band together,” Lymee stated rolling her eyes and turning back to the map. “That way even if they do decide to get ‘uppity’ they will still be divided and powerless.”

“How do we do that?” Niimu asked.

“Good question,” Lymee said chewing on her tongue as she thought it over. “Do we know where any of them might stand in all of this?”

While Lymee had felt she had made a fairly good rapport with Lord Kuan of Jien Dynasty and Lymee did feel that Kuan had the ear of her big sister, but Lymee could not be sure where she would actually fall in the grand scheme of things. If Lymee had learned anything about Lord Kuan after their many nights of playing Gii it was that she very well might oppose Lymee for no other reason than the challenge.

“Lord Gail of Aoi Dynasty is far too much of a coward to oppose you on her own,” Niimu stated.

Lymee could not help but smile as she thought of the pad chested woman. Though her thoughts quickly returned to Sai and her utter discontent for the woman, and thinking about her seemed to sap any energy Lymee had.

“Not to mention her Dynasty’s poor financial situation,” Niimu continued. “Lord Gail may not like you being the new Empress but I think she will be harmless if left on her own. The trouble will come if she allies herself with the other Dynasty Lords. Both Teion and Bijia Dynasties remained relatively neutral in all of this and we have no real way of knowing how they will react.”

“I was unaware that neutrality was even an option,” Lymee grumbled a bit, glancing over at Niimu.

“For some lords it was not,” Niimu stated looking up at Lymee with a bit of a smirk. “Them being as small and as far away as they are, they were not considered a threat either way.”

“Except to the nearby Dynasties who they might attack under the auspices of quelling a rebellious Dynasty or Province while their forces were deployed here,” Lymee stated more to herself than to anyone in particular.

“The real threat is Nos and Din Dynasty,” Lei stated. “Both of them did side with the Empress, the old Empress,” Lei corrected glancing up at Lymee. “However, their support was far more duty bound than their personal preference. They very well may support our Empress if they feel that she is worthy of the position or if she has the support of the other Lords.”

“I think we are ignoring a very valuable option here,” Bao stated speaking up for the very first time. They all turned to look at the woman. “Our Empress is the Heavenly Fox after all. If we convinced the other lords that her will is the will of The Heavens many of them will follow her for that reason alone.”

“And how do you propose we go about doing that?” Niimu asked.

“I propose that we don’t,” Lymee spoke up.

“If we could convince Priestess Ling to show her support that would go a long way,” Yoni said so deep in thought that she had not heard Lymee. “She is still at the temple in the southern area of Gon’s mountain range, right?”

Niimu and her two daughters’ eyes shot wide with surprise and astonishment. Yoni looked at the three confused by their reaction.

“Sorry,” Yoni said lowering the hand that was resting on her chin as she noticed the surprised reactions. “Was that supposed to be a secret?”

Right
, Lymee sighed. Yoni had not been in the Council of Lords meeting and Lymee had never informed her that Niimu had hidden the fact that Ling was still alive.

“In order to protect Ling,” Lymee explained. “Lord Niimu told everyone that she had been killed by bandits while on the way to be delivered to the Empress.”

“Oh,” Yoni said grimacing in apology.

Niimu still seemed stunned looking over at Lymee with amazement. Lymee was convinced that any doubts that she still might have had concerning Lymee’s divinity were now laid to rest. To her it only made sense that a Heavenly Being would know that one of their messengers was still alive and knew where she was.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Lymee said deciding it was not worth the effort to explain or to try and come up with a clever lie. She was still too hungover to do either. “Even if we could convince her to support me, which I doubt we could, I don’t want people to follow me because they see me as some kind of religious figure. I want them to follow me because they honestly think me the best choice.”

“If that is the Empress’ wish then I fear that limits our options quite extensively,” Niimu pointed out. “While you have no doubt gained much fame and recognition for your taking of the city, that in and of itself will not convince the other Lords.”

“I know,” Lymee said biting down on the corner of her lip as she pondered it for a moment. “Let’s just leave the religious aspect out of this,” Lymee pleaded.

“As our Empress commands,” Niimu bowed her head if not a bit reluctantly. “However, whether we wish to or not we cannot stop the spread of word about your divinity. Even among our own men people now refer to you as the Glorious Strategist Sun Su, the Heavenly Fox Spirit. They believe that your victory here was the divine will of The Heavens themselves. Not to mention your subsequent battle with a sorceress who was controlling the former Empress.”

“Of course they are, and of course they do,” Lymee sighed burying her face in her hand. This was just what she needed, more titles.

“This will only reinforce the rumors that have already been circulating around you for years now,” Niimu continued. “I do think it a great loss of opportunity if we do not capitalize on this.”

“I said no,” Lymee said adding a bit of force to her voice. “That is off the table.”

“Forgive me, my Empress,” Niimu bowed her head apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Lymee sighed suddenly very tired. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Lymee understood why Niimu was so confused about Lymee’s reluctance. As far as she was concerned Lymee had already admitted and proven that she was actually sent by The Heavens. As such she could not understand why Lymee would be so reluctant to admit this to the rest of the world, especially when it would seemingly make everything easier. But then Lymee had thought it would make things easier when she had asked Kitsune to do what she did and that was already making things much harder and much more complicated.     

“Can we continue this at a later time?” Lymee asked rubbing her temple with her thumb. Her headache never having gone away and after getting angry it was throbbing worse than ever.

“Of course, Empress,” Niimu bowed her head slightly. “I am sure this is still very much for you and you need to take a rest.”

“No, I am hungover from last night and still upset about the death of a good friend and my older sister,” Lymee stated looking threw her fingers to glare at Niimu. “On top of all the other crap that has happened in the past day I just need a break.”

“Forgive me, Empress,” Niimu lowered her head seemingly genuinely sorry. “You are correct. I should never think to speak for you.”

“Forgiven,” Lymee waved her off. “Yoni,” Lymee said turning to the woman. “Would you please follow me?”

“Of course, Empress,” Yoni quickly bowed and followed in step behind Lymee as she exited the room.

Once they were out they walked for a time in silence Lymee’s eyes darting to the side as she searched for something.

“Is something wrong, Empress?” Yoni asked noticing Lymee’s searching behavior.

“Shhh,” Lymee said holding up a finger to her lips signaling for Yoni to be quiet. “There,” Lymee said pointing to what looked to be an unused room. Without another word Lymee moved towards it with large strides, nearly slamming the door open as she slid it open.

“What’s in here?” Yoni asked as she moved inside behind Lymee.

Lymee took one look around the room making sure that it was vacant before she slammed the door shut and grabbed Yoni and threw her against the wall.

“Empress?” Yoni gasped in surprise but Lymee cut her off as she pressed her lips against hers.

“In the past twenty four hours,” Lymee said pulling back, tugging at Yoni’s shirt. “I have conquered a city, did battle with an evil sorceress, lost a close friend, learned that the love of my life is dead, and became empress of an entire kingdom.” She glared at Yoni with a fierce fire burning in her eyes. “I. Need. Sex,” Lymee said with an animalistic hunger in her voice.

Yoni blinked once her body frozen. “Right away,” Yoni nodded hastily loosening her shirt.

CHAPTER 9

Lymee looked down at the broken and beaten men that all kneeled before her. Most of them had bruises on their faces and all of them were shackled together with thick iron chains. To their right stood a row of expensively dressed nobles. Most of them were Su or Gon nobles as most of the nobles in the city had been stripped of their rank and title once it was taken. There were also a few nobles scattered about from other Dynasties that had come once word of Lymee’s victory had spread. They were supposedly here to represent their Dynasty but really they were here to take stock of this woman who would be Empress and report back to their lords.

Across from the nobles were several lines of soldiers, mostly Su officers but there were also a few Gon high ranking officers standing in the mix. Behind both lines scattered around the entire Throne Room was close to fifty armed guards all of them Su soldiers. Lymee was not sure if they simply feared that someone might try something or if this was simply the standard guard for the Throne Room. Either way Lymee thought it was a little excessive.

But Lymee could worry about that later. For now she had to focus on the matter at hand.

“Is this all of them?” Lymee asked tuning in her throne so she was better facing Gea who was standing at attention next to her.

Gea wore what could best be described as her dress attire. Her armor was pristine and there were several ornamental decorations showing her rank and status as Lymee’s new head of the military. She did not wear a helmet instead having her hair tied back with an ornate looking headpiece. It was one of the first times the Lymee could remember that she was not wearing her hair in a way that at least partially hid the scar over her eye. 

“All of the Su soldier anyway,” Gea nodded in confirmation. “The Gon soldiers will be dealt with by Lord Niimu as she sees fit.”

“I see,” Lymee rested her elbow on the armrest, her fist supporting her cheek as she looked the men over.

There were only twenty or so clasped in chains below her. That was a far smaller number than she would have expected but then maybe that was a good thing. It meant that most of her men had been well behaved. Or it meant that a lot of it went unnoticed or ignored. But given Gea and even Sai’s feelings towards looting she doubted they would allow their officers to be so loose with their men’s discipline.

“And all of them,” Lymee looked back up at Gea. “Are only charged with pillaging?”

“And all the other crimes that entails, Empress.” Gea gave a single nod of confirmation.

Lymee took a deep breath looking down from her throne at the men. She would have to deal with their punishment very carefully. She knew that if she was too lenient with them then that would send the wrong message emboldening others to do the same, but if she was too harsh then it would only serve to demoralize and maybe even anger her own troops.

A lord was only as powerful as the army they commanded after all.

Nodding her head in understanding Lymee put a stabilizing hand on the fox laying across her shoulders and rose to her feet.

Kitsune had made a full recovery after a day’s rest and had been surprisingly clingy to Lymee ever since. Kitsune only seemed happy when she was directly touching Lymee and seemed to get upset whenever Lymee would set her down. And Lymee had not seen Kitsune take on her more human form even once since. Lymee was not sure if that was because she did not have the strength to or if there was another reason for it.

Though that did not stop the fox from seeming even more smug with herself than she was before. Lymee thought maybe the fox’s victory over the Sorceress had gone to her head a little bit. Not that Lymee could blame her. Lymee owed her life to Kitsune and was more than happy to coddle her a little more for it.

Lymee started to make her way down the steps towards the bound men in front of her, Gea following close behind. Keo and Yoni, who had been standing to Lymee’s left, remained where they were ready to move if summoned.

Both of them were dressed in far fancier clothes than Gea was. Even Keo was wearing something other than her traditional Kimono instead going for something far more Chinese looking and now wore a similar headpiece to the one that the former Primary Minister had been wearing.

Yoni on the other hand seemed completely at home in her outfit. Lymee realized this was probably the first time she had worn anything so fancy since she had stopped being Lord Cia and had become Yoni. While Lymee knew that Yoni was enjoying her new life, she was also sure that Yoni greatly missed the life she once had. And now she was one step closer to where she once was. 

Clasping her hands together in front of her Lymee tried to put on an heir of superiority and confidence as she walked. The true feelings being more of a mix of panic and crippling self-doubt as she felt her entire body break out in a nervous sweat. She had gone over this so many times in her head but now that she was here she was terrified that she would stumbled over a word or say something terribly wrong. Not to mention the fear that she would simply make a mistake.

Now that things had mostly calmed down and their hold on the city was firmly established it was time to deal with the aftermath of the battle. The first thing she had to do is decide on the punishment for those soldiers that had been caught looting while they sacked the city.

Lymee did her best to be graceful as she descended the steps. No easy feat given the outfit she now wore. She had thought that the dresses wore in Su were impressive and cumbersome but her outfit now put all the others to shame in both style and inefficiency. She was simply happy that high heels had not seemed to be invented and she would be damned if she would ever be the one who dared to suggest them.

The prisoners all pressed their faces to the floor as Lymee neared showing her their humility and sincerity.

“Alright,” Lymee said looking at the backs of their heads as she scanned the group, keeping her hands clasped in front of her. She actually hated it when people bowed in such a way. Not because she thought it stupid but because she hated not being able to see their faces when she talked to them. They could be laughing at her for all she knew. She would much rather look someone in the eye. “Who here thinks there has been some sort of mistake and says that they are innocent of these charges?”

There was a slight pause as Lymee scanned the soldiers waiting for anyone to speak up.

“I am, my lord,” one of them directly in front of Lymee gasped raising his head and grabbing for Lymee’s ankles. Lymee did not move back, the shackles preventing him from actually reaching her.

“She is your Empress,” Gea barked as she moved out from behind Lymee, kicking the man back down with the ball of her foot.

“I’m sorry, my Empress,” the soldier sobbed burying his face into his chest as he hunched over on the floor.

“He’s alright,” Lymee assured Gea holding out her hand forcing the general to step back behind her. Crouching down on the balls of her feet Lymee looked at the man weeping in front of her. “What happened then?” she asked resting a comforting hand on the sobbing man’s back.

“In the chaos of battle an oil lantern got knocked over,” the soldier explained between sniffles. “A house caught fire. Me and some others rushed inside to help anyone who might be trapped inside. I found a man who was trying to pull his valuables out of the house so we helped him. Once outside he told me that his wife and children were still inside so they all went back in while I stayed to make sure no one tried to loot his things. But then,” the man broke down and started wailing again.

“What happened then?” Lymee asked her voice soft and soothing.

“The house collapsed,” the soldier said. “Everyone was still trapped inside. I tried to help them but the flames were just too hot. When others arrived they found me standing in front of a burning house surrounded by what looked like a bunch of loot. Please,” he begged reaching out to Lymee again and again being stopped by the shackles. “I know how this looks but I wasn’t looting I swear.”

Lymee nodded rising back to her feet. “Who was the one who found this man?” she asked looking at the officers gathered along the sides of the Throne Room just in front of the giant support pillars.

“I was, Empress,” A man declared stepping forward from a line of other lower ranking officers giving a quick bow.

“Does what you saw match his story?” Lymee asked.

“It is true that we found in in front of a burning building surrounded by valuables,” the man confirmed. “He also said that the rest of his comrades were inside when the building collapsed. I figured that they had just gotten greedy and had gone back inside to retrieve more and it cost them dearly.”

Both options were possible and Lymee did find it a bit odd that the man they had supposedly rescued had tried to save his possessions first before trying to save his family. But considering the man’s pleading and his look of terror Lymee was inclined to believe him. Lymee glanced down at Kitsune asking for her opinion. The fox gave flicked her tail and Lymee took that to mean that she thought he was telling the truth as well.

“Release him,” Lymee ordered. “As we cannot prove that what you say is false, I hereby clear you of all charges and hope you accept my apology for any pain and suffering this has caused you.”

The man looked up in surprise and disbelief. Even as he held out his shackled hands to the jailers so they could free him he still seemed like he could not believe that he was actually being let go.

“Anyone else think they are innocent?” Lymee asked peering out to the rest of them.

“I am, Empress,” a man declared raising his head up so he was on his knees. Before Lymee could even ask him to elaborate the man started speaking. “It was just a misunderstanding, Empress. You see Empress, I found a woman and she appeared injured and so I was trying to check her condition and see if I could help her in some way.” He held up his hands like he was begging. “When the others found me they thought I was raping her, which is something I would never do.”

Keeping her face completely expressionless she looked up at the officers once more. “And who arrested this man?”

“That would be me, Empress,” another soldier bowed and stepped forward. He did not look to be an officer probably making him a sergeant of some kind. Lymee was still trying to figure out the ranking system. Something she intended to revise if at all possible.

“And does that fit with how you found him?” Lymee asked.

“It is possible, Empress,” he admitted though he did not seem all that convinced. “However, I am unaware of any form of treatment that requires him to be on top of the person with her clothing torn open while his trousers are down and his manhood forcibly inserted into her womanhood. All the while she is begging for him to stop.” 

Lymee nodded feeling that she had gotten a clear image of what had happened. Keeping her lips firmly planted together she turned back and looked down at the man. “I see,” she glared. Her fist were clenched so tightly her nails were digging into her palms. She did not need to ask Kitsune on whether he was lying or not. “Execute this man at once for trying to take advantage of my mercy by lying to me about his innocence,” she ordered pointing at him with an accusatory finger.

“What?” the soldier gasped. “No, Empress please,” he begged as two soldier unchained him from the rest and started to cart him off. “Please, have mercy. I’m sorry,” he continued to beg as he was dragged out of the Throne room.

“Anyone else say that they are innocent?” Lymee asked looking down at the remaining men.

None of them said a word, merely keeping their heads pressed to the ground in silence.

“Alright then,” Lymee said filling her lungs as much air as she could so she could project her voice out across the hall. “Then all of you will be dishonorably discharged from the military. You will be stripped of any and all titles and honors you once held and you will receive no pay or compensation for this campaign. You will also not be allowed to travel with the army when it returns to Su Dynasty. How or if you are able to return is left to you.”

There was a long silence that hung around the Throne Room. It would seem that some thought that Lymee was being too harsh while others thought that she was being too lenient. But Lymee had accomplished everything she had set out to. She had shown that she was soft and merciful as well as cold and harsh. She had hoped this would both serve to quell any thoughts that Lymee did not have the backbone as well as proving that they were not replacing one tyrant for another.

“Let everyone know that I expect anyone under my authority to act in a manner of honor that will bring glory not only to me but to all who swear their allegiance to me,” Lymee declared loudly for all to hear. “I shall not tolerate thing like exploitation such as pillaging a conquered people. I shall never tolerate someone forcing themselves on another. And I will most definitely never tolerate being lied to. And let it be known this applies to all people. Man, woman and noble alike.”

That did raise a few murmurs of surprise but she had been expecting that. To claim that nobles would be held to the same standards as commoners was an unexpected thing. She doubted she would get to many protest that nobles should be just as honorable as commoners though. If they did raise some ire about it she could always turn it around on them by saying that if anything nobles should be held to a higher standard of scrutiny because they were of higher station. That would shut them up real quick.